What is it like in space

Hi, my name is Tim Kopra, I'm a Colonel in the United States Army, but I'm also a crewmember on board the International Space Station as part of Expedition 20.

Having a great time here on space station and I have some questions that have been asked I thought I'd answer those today.

The first one is from Anthony Harris and Anthony is from Costa Masa, California, his question is a good one; "What's it like in space?"

Space is great! We get to float everyplace. Every surface in the space station we can use. Things float around in space that means you have to keep track of your things too, but it is a great place to work.

You know we can tumble around and we have a great time here on space station. Playing like we're gymnast, when we don't have to have any skill in order to be a gymnast, we can just float around. Although there is some skill to learning how to float around in space and that's one thing that over time you develop. I've been here for about 5-weeks, I'm getting better and better, but there still a long ways to go. I can watch my crewmembers who have been here for four-months and they're much more graceful than I am. But it is a lot of fun, I can tell you that.

The other part about working in space is that we work vary hard here. It is a very large international program and we have lots of science on board. We have the responsibility to maintain this vehicle and also take care of ourselves because there are some effects of being in zero gravity that we have to counteract. We need to workout very hard in order to maintain our bone and muscle. But it's a great place to work. Along with working hard, is the satisfaction of being a small part of a very large team.

There's six of us on board the space station, but there are thousands of people on the ground that support us and it's a very international community. Each one if the international partners, has that team on the ground that helps us do our job and that makes it very satisfying and enjoyable for all of us, it's a great team effort.